


Warm

by Dustbound



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dustbound/pseuds/Dustbound
Summary: Natsume is used to being frugal, so he doesn't say anything when his old hand-me-down gloves from a previous foster start to fall apart. Good thing the loving Fujiwara couple notice (with some help) and give him an early Christmas gift.
Relationships: Fujiwara Shigeru & Fujiwara Touko & Natsume Takashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	Warm

**Author's Note:**

> For temporalreplicsimile on Tumblr as part of the NatsuYuu Secret Santa event (natsume-ss)!

There’s a crispness in the air when Natsume breathes in that jolts his body awake, makes him shudder under layers of a scarf, his winter uniform, and a coat. He taps each of his feet on the ground a couple of times to stymie the cold seeping in from his pant legs. Maybe he should buy thermals? But no, they’d get uncomfortable indoors. Better to just get moving.

As he walks, sometimes a brisk line of air will rifle through his hair and the barren twigs of brush and trees. The skin on his hands tightens and over time, his fingers feel stiff, and then numb. Natsume pauses by the roadside and digs into his schoolbag for a moment to pull out some familiar friends. The gloves haven’t changed much since he was thirteen. They’re still a bright red, although the yarn is fuzzier now. The color isn’t really to Natsume’s tastes but still. To him, they’re quite warm, even though many of the fingers have worn thin or gotten holes. At least the palms are padded, they’ve helped keep the gloves in decent shape.

“Yaaa, it’s extra cold today!” a voice drawls from the top of a nearby wall and seems to follow him. “Couldn’t it have waited just a little while longer? I would’ve slept inside if I’d known it would be this cold.”

Natsume snorts and holds back a grin. “That’s what you get for drinking late into the night. Some bodyguard!” he banters.

“Bodyguard, not babysitter! I left wards,” Nyanko-sensei grouses and finally addresses him directly. “What are those red Kemari-looking things on your hands?”

“Gloves.”

“Hmm.” The calico doesn’t say anything further but there’s a gleam to his eyes that goes unnoticed. “Don’t get into trouble!” With that he hops off the corner and disappears into the underbrush.

It’s a relatively normal school day. Most students chatter about Christmas and New Year’s, and Natsume gives his input now and again. He’s become less reserved. It’s nice, to talk about idle things sometimes. Christmas is something he’s sometimes celebrated, and sometimes not, so he’s not bored hearing about others’ plans or traditions. In the back of his mind, Natsume wonders how the Fujiwara couple will celebrate, but he shakes that thought loose. He’s learned not to expect anything and besides, they’ve given him so much already. If they decide they want to do something, he’ll give it his all, but even if it’s just the normal family dinner with them talking and smiling together… That would be great, too.

The day passes without event, and Natsume manages to not get in trouble just as Nyanko-sensei warned him. He even makes plans with Tanuma and Taki for winter break. When he walks back home, his steps are a bit lighter and he doesn’t mind the bite of the wind through his gloves as much. He greets Touko as he comes in from the cold, slips off his shoes, and goes upstairs to finish that day’s homework.

In the early evening, Touko knocks on the wood by Natsume’s door. “Takashi? Shigeru-san is home early, would you like to have some snacks with us?”

A smile lights up Natsume’s face as he opens the door. “Yes!”

They all sit in the living room where it’s warm under the kotatsu, the tv at a pleasant murmur. There’s some kind of showcasing program playing where the host gives awed commentary at the spectacle of lights in the nearby city’s downtown area. Shigeru warms his hands on his teacup and muses about seeing the lights in person, while Natsume and Touko simply marvel at the Christmas display.

At some point Nyanko-sensei prances in and flops over between the Fujiwara couple, biting and kicking what’s probably one of his toys in true cat fashion. “What’s that you’ve got Nyangoro?” Shigeru teases the cat, reaching for the toy. Surprisingly, the calico resists very little before letting go. “Wait, a glove?”

Natsume glances over and then slaps the table. “Ah! That’s mine!” He glares at the cat, who looks very pleased with himself and darts off before Natsume can catch him. “Sensei,” Natsume hisses but the cat is already gone.

Touko gently takes the glove from Shigeru and turns it over in hands. “Oh my, Takashi… Do you still use this? Would you like new ones?”

The teenager flushes a bit with embarrassment and searches for the right words to say. “No, it’s okay…” he starts but he can see Shigeru folding his arms. Right. They’ve had this talk. This is his home, and this is his family, and holding back is a no. Natsume struggles through the embarrassment, and bittersweet memories of the past. “The thing is, it’s one of the few gifts- Ah, no, that is… One of the people who fostered me and their son gave me his hand-me-down pair. Even though they were struggling, they were kind to me. So even though it’s not much I’ve wanted to keep them…”

Does it seem strange to want to keep those frayed and worn gloves? At least Touko doesn’t seem to mind as she pats his shoulder. “Thank you for telling us,” she says and Natsume feels a little tension in his mind release. Over his shoulder, Touko catches eyes with Shigeru and they trade determined looks.

The school week continues to fly by. Later next week will be the start of Christmas and the winter break, and Natsume is pleasantly surprised to find himself excited. There’s plenty to look forward to. He reminds himself to check on the Dog’s Circle sometime before New Year’s as they tend to get rowdy when there’s a good excuse to drink. The weekend is brimming with anticipation and he wonders how he’ll get through what remains of the school days.

He finds himself spending a lot of time with Shigeru. It’s quiet, and comfortable, and sometimes they’re all together for meals or to have a little break, but mostly something’s missing. Or rather, someone. Finally, Natsume asks, “Where is Touko-san?”

“Mm, she’s busy,” Shigeru tells him and flips on the television. “Have you seen this new program?”

And this keeps happening. It’s not subtle. And now it’s Sunday, Natsume still has school tomorrow, and he feels worried. Is Touko okay? Is this a yokai problem? Surely not, or Sensei would have said something but he’s just been lazing around enjoying not being outside when it snows.

He goes to find his foster parent and stops him in front of the Fujiwara couple’s room. “Shigeru-san,” Natsume says when he finds the man.

“Yes?” Shigeru doesn’t open the door.

“Touko-san’s not sick, is she?”

Shigeru is taken aback and he looks at Natsume. The teenager’s face is creased with worry, and he’s obviously been fighting between wanting to respect the Fujiwaras’ privacy and his sincere concern. The man’s eyes soften and he ruffles Natsume’s hair. Maybe a surprise hadn’t been the best way to go about this, but keeping him distracted was the only part Shigeru could play.

However, before Shigeru can say anything, the bedroom door opens with gusto and Touko is excitedly saying, “It’s finished!” Followed by, “Oh!” And followed by her quickly putting the object in her hands behind her back.

“Touko-san’s fine,” Shigeru finishes and Natsume can’t stop the laughter that wells up. “Touko-san, is now a good time?”

“Mm,” the gentle woman confirms with a soft smile. “Takashi, we want you to have this. It’s a little early for Christmas but… Well, you’ll see.” She places a small gift bag in Natsume’s hands and she and Shigeru are all smiles as they watch him light up.

He doesn’t tell them they shouldn’t have or that they didn’t have to feel obligated or anything like that. Natsume says, “Thank you,” and then he opens the bag and takes out his gift. Inside are two gloves that look familiar and yet not. The hand parts of the gloves are a fuzzy bright red yarn with padding inside and new leather patches on the palms where the knitting was more worn. The glove fingers have been cut off and the ends carefully repaired so they would not fray, turning them into fingerless gloves. Instead, there was a curved block of knitting snapped to the knuckle area, and Natsume finds when he unsnaps it and pulls it over what remains of the fingers, it turns the gloves into mittens.

There is a combination of old and new, of one of Natsume’s better past memories and the warm memories he is still making.

“Thank you,” he says again, and if his voice is more wobbly, no one mentions it. The Fujiwara couple wrap him up in their arms and their warmth and he reciprocates it with his own.


End file.
